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Confused about SMAART
Lorne Hastings:
I was looking into Smaart and came to realize this software DOES tell you what problems your rig may have, it does NOT tell you how to fix it (correct me if I am wrong). What do you do if you find out that your horns are slightly out of phase? is there a way to fix that.
Basically I am trying to find out what this tool will do for me in the field. It seams to me that if you are a speaker builder this is a good tool to analize your design.
As I see it, the only thing this software is good for is to set your time alignment (which is usually provided by the manufacture) and to RTA your rig.
What am I missing here?
Tom Young:
"this software DOES tell you what problems your rig may have, it does NOT tell you how to fix it"
Essentially this is correct.
However, through lots of study and use, the Smaart owner/user can learn to discern what it will take to fix anomalies in the loudspeaker/system response. Perhaps the best example of this is in cases where you discover problems through measurement, you apply a logical fix and then observe that the problem has not gone away or has not been effected enough. So, you look deeper. The key is that the measurement system (and your ears) are capable of telling you what you have accomplished.
More experienced and well-trained measurement folks can tell almost immediately that a certain anomaly is not equalizable and requires alignment, physical treatment (reaiming, acoustic treatment, etc) or a trip to the scrap heap.
I think that Smaart is more often used for RTA and delay adjustments by the majority of its endusers. Those who attend training classes, read lots of reference text and actually go out there and play around with things can reach a level where they are utlizing all that Smaart can reveal.
Other measurement systems such as SIM and TEF, by virtue of their cost, are more likely to end up in the hands of folks who have made this commitment.
John Penkala:
Lorne,
You are correct with the assertion that Smaart will not tell you how to fix the problem. The Smaart classes offered by Siasoft stress this point. They also focus on taking viable measurements, discerning good data from bogus data, and interpreting those measurements. The most valuable single thing that Jamie Anderson and Paul Tucci said was "EQ Last". It's amazing how many folks take a measurement and run to the graph to make adjustments. I have a system tuning procedure that I follow that's worked well for me.
After the speakers have been aimed. (minor adjustments may be necessary)
1. I use the manufacturers'recommended crossover points and bandpass delay settings.
2. Then I measure the Sub - Top alignment (ground plane measurement) and make the necessary adjustment on the input delay.
3. Then I take a measurement from the backline and delay the sub-top combo via the input delay's back to this point.
4. I take a measurement of the main sub-top combo and Front fills at the coverage seem and align them to this point.
This is my starting point.
5. Take measurements throughout the room with Smaart and listen for any peaks or valleys in the system response. If reaiming speakers solves the problem that's what we'll do. If reaiming doesn't work then corrective eq is applied.
6. Check results- correct if possible/necessary
-Come to terms that depending on the available system coverage and room acoustics you may not be able to get good sound to all of the seats. But you should have made improvements over what the norm is in those seats.
This is what I'm doing now and I can do it pretty quickly. I'm always looking for ways to get better results. So the Smaart guru's in the crowd are welcome to make any reccomendations.
JP
John Penkala:
Lorne Hastings wrote on Tue, 31 January 2006 13:29
I was looking into Smaart and came to realize this software DOES tell you what problems your rig may have, it does NOT tell you how to fix it (correct me if I am wrong). What do you do if you find out that your horns are slightly out of phase? is there a way to fix that.
Basically I am trying to find out what this tool will do for me in the field. It seams to me that if you are a speaker builder this is a good tool to analize your design.
As I see it, the only thing this software is good for is to set your time alignment (which is usually provided by the manufacture) and to RTA your rig.
What am I missing here?
Lorne,
I recommend reading all of the case studies and material on the Siasoft website, including the powerpoint presentations.
Make sure that Smaarts' internal measurement/reference delay is properly set. If this not set correctly will show up as poor phase response and poor coherence in the high frequencies. Another thing- How much eq do you have on the HF drivers? Over eq'ing will cause phase shift. If your horns are slightly out of phase there is a phase adjustment on most dsp outputs that enables you to fine tune the phase by the degree. Unfortunately, some phase shift is going to happen.
In addition to what I noted in my other post I use:
RTA/Spectrograph Applications-
Monitors-put on cue bus to ring out wedges/sidefills
FOH- put on cue bus or main mix to see peaks in mix
Check out the through crossover alignment paper as well.
JP
Abdul-EQ:
Lorne Hastings wrote on Tue, 31 January 2006 13:29
As I see it, the only thing this software is good for is to ... RTA your rig.
What am I missing here?
Lorne,
What you are missing is the experience and perspective of a highly skilled professional quoted in the February 2006 issue of Mix magazine; page 76 for those playing along at home.
"SIA Software's SmaartLive helps" he says.
Now do you understand?
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